Jet Jaguar
Jet Jaguar Jet Jaguar (ジェットジャガー Jettojagā) is a benevolent ''Humanoid size-changing robot, who first appeared in the 1973 film, Godzilla vs Megalon. Development Jet Jaguar was the result of a monster design campaign held by Seiyu from the end of 1971 to January of the following year, called "Children Monster University", which was co-sponsored by Toho and Tsuburaya Productions. In March of 1972, a number of the kids who had submitted designs for the campaign were invited on to the Japanese television program ''Katsura Kokinji's Afternoon Show, where the winner was to be announced and a suit inspired by the winning design revealed. On this show, it was also announced that the winner of the competition would have their design featured in Toho's next Godzilla film, which would ultimately become Godzilla vs. Megalon. The winner of the contest, a boy named Masaaki Sano, had submitted a drawing of a monster called Red Alone (レッド·アローン Reddo Arōn), which also went through several other names including Red Aaron (レッドアーロン Reddo Āron), Jet Alone (ジェット・アローン Jetto Arōn), and Aceman (エースマン Ēsuman). This concept eventually evolved into Jet Jaguar. History Showa Series Godzilla vs Megalon After an underground nuclear test wreaked havoc on their city, the kingdom of Seatopia prepared to attack the surface world with their monster-god Megalon. Looking for a way to guide Megalon during his rampage, two Seatopian agents ransacked the home of Goro Ibuki, an inventor working on a humanoid robot. When Goro, his brother Rokuro, and his friend Hiroshi Jinkawa interrupted them, the agents quickly subdued them and made their escape. Soon after, Goro put the finishing touches on his robot, which he named Jet Jaguar. The Seatopian agents struck again, this time gaining control of Jet Jaguar. One attempted to dispose of Goro and Rokuro in a shipping container, while the other stayed at the house to direct the robot. He revealed that the Seatopians planned to build an army of Jet Jaguars. Hiroshi escaped and set off to rescue Goro and Rokuro. In the meantime, Jet Jaguar began to steer Megalon towards Tokyo. Along the way, the insect attacked the Ogochi Dam, inadvertently swatting Goro and Rokuro to safety. While Goro had a handheld control device for Jet Jaguar that could override the Seatopians' commands, he discovered that the range was too limited. After he explained the situation to the JSDF, they let him board a helicopter to intercept the robot. Just before they could collide, Goro regained control of Jet Jaguar and sent him to Monster Island to convince Godzilla to join the fight. Though disoriented at first, Megalon quickly got back on task. To ensure they had the advantage against Godzilla, the Seatopians enlisted Gigan. As Megalon approached Goro's house, Jet Jaguar reunited with his family, then flew off to face the monster, ignoring Goro's commands. Somehow, the inventor mused, Jet Jaguar had achieved sentience and free will. Megalon soon learned that he had achieved the ability to increase his size. Jet Jaguar and Megalon found themselves evenly matched until Gigan arrived on the scene. The robot was nearly destroyed the duo, but their gloating came to an end when Godzilla entered the battle. In the ensuing tag team match, Jet Jaguar flew Godzilla out of a ring of fire created by Megalon, broke Gigan's arm, and held Megalon in place so the King of the Monsters could deliver a pair of sliding kicks. After the two villains retreated, Godzilla returned to Monster Island, while Jet Jaguar returned to his family, shrinking back to human size. Godzilla Island Jet Jaguar appears extensively in the TV series Godzilla Island. In the show, Jet Jaguar is represented as three distinct robots; a Silver Jet Jaguar, who was a fighting machine that battled alongside Mechagodzilla and Moguera, a Medical Jet Jaguar, who tended to the injured monsters, and a Fire Fighter Jet Jaguar, who worked to put out the fires caused by the monsters' fights and played a key role in defeating Dororin. Abilities Size Changing Jet Jaguar can change his size at will. He can grow from his normal height of 1.8 meters to a height of 50 meters which allows him to go toe-to-toe with kaiju such as Megalon and Gigan. In Godzilla: Save the Earth and Godzilla: Unleashed, Jet Jaguar becomes immune to energy attacks after shrinking to a specific size and can rapidly punch enemies to deal damage. In these games he can also grow to an extremely large height on par with Biollante, allowing him to effortlessly kick enemies into the air. In these games, Jet Jaguar can only attain these extremely small and large sizes temporarily, and will revert to his default height after a few moments. In Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, Jet Jaguar uses his size-changing ability to his advantage against Orga, flying down the monster's throat while human-sized and then growing to his gigantic size, tearing Orga apart from the inside. Flight Jet Jaguar can fly at speeds up to Mach 3.5. Even when weighed down by carrying Godzilla, he is able to fly with no visible signs of stress. Physical Strength Jet Jaguar lifting Gigan in Godzilla vs. Megalon Jet Jaguar is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant. He is incredibly strong, being able to lift and throw Gigan and hold his own in combat with Megalon. His combat skills are enhanced in Godzilla: Save the Earth and Godzilla: Unleashed, where he fights using an array of martial arts-based attacks that allow him to lift and throw enemies as well as launch them into the air. In Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, Jet Jaguar is able to knock out Godzilla with a single punch to the face. Intelligence After becoming autonomous and escaping the control of the Seatopians, Jet Jaguar is capable of understanding the commands of Goro Ibuki and communicating with Godzilla using hand gestures. In Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, he retains the ability to cooperate with humans and also strategically uses his size-changing abilities to defeat his foes. He flies down Orga's throat while human-sized and expands to kaiju size, tearing the monster apart from the inside. Later, Jet Jaguar shrinks down and pilots Kiryu to fire the Absolute Zero Cannon and instantly freeze Destoroyah. Durability Jet Jaguar withstands a great deal of punishment from both Megalon and Gigan but continues to fight and eventually overcomes them with Godzilla's assistance. In Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, he shrugs off attacks such as a point-blank blast from Godzilla's atomic breath and holds his own against several Trilopods. Spotlights Jet Jaguar has two powerful spotlights installed in his eyes which he can use to search for or blind enemies. Tornado In the game Godzilla: Save The Earth, Jet Jaguar's rage attack involves him spinning around until a tornado forms around him. This tornado is powerful enough to push away and instantly knock down monsters by simply touching them. Plasma Clap In Godzilla: Save the Earth and Godzilla: Unleashed, Jet Jaguar's hands glow with green energy as he charges them before clapping them together and firing an energy beam. This may be a reference to Ultraman's Specium Ray. Hand Ray / Missiles In Godzilla: Trading Battle, Jet Jaguar can utilize the generic "laser" and "missile" attack cards. These manifest as a blue laser emitted from the palm of his hand and missiles fired from his chest, respectively. Weaknesses While Jet Jaguar is able to hold his own against most opponents in a one-on-one fight, he is susceptible to being overwhelmed by multiple enemies. He is overpowered and rendered helpless against Megalon and Gigan before Godzilla comes to his aid. He is also overwhelmed by several Trilopods in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth before Zilla finally rescues him. In the Atari and Pipeworks Godzilla games, Jet Jaguar becomes incredibly slow once he grows to his maximum size. Changing size also requires a great deal of energy in these games. Video Games Godzilla: Trading Battle In Godzilla: Trading Battle Jet Jaguar can release an "explosion breath" from his mouth. Godzilla: Save the Earth Jet Jaguar is a playable character in Godzilla: Save the Earth. In this game, Jet Jaguar can fire energy beams from his arms and spin himself around at extreme speeds, creating a deadly tornado. Jet Jaguar possesses numerous martial arts-inspired melee combat moves, and can change his size to grow much larger or smaller than his opponent. While in his smallest combat form, Jet Jaguar deploys a reflection shield over his body, making him immune to beam attacks, which are reflected back at the opponent. Godzilla: Unleashed Jet Jaguar in Godzilla: Unleashed Height: 90 meters Weight: 38,000 tons "Jet Jaguar is a human-sized robot created by a Japanese scientist for unknown reasons. Created with a great potential for learning, Jet Jaguar achieved sentience and began to modify himself and his programming. His most impressive modification has been his ability to change his own size-allowing him to grow large enough to dwarf monsters such as Godzilla. Unfortunately, Jet Jaguar cannot maintain his enormous size indefinitely, and must periodically rest to regain his energies. Jet Jaguar is a reserve member of the Global Defense Force-heroically protecting humanity whenever it is threatened by monstrous threats." Jet Jaguar's bio from page 26 of the Godzilla: Unleashed instruction manual booklet Godzilla (PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 4) Jet Jaguar in Godzilla In the PS3 version, Jet Jaguar appears as a boss in Area 12 on Stage 5 if the G-Generators are not destroyed fast enough. He may also appear on other levels as a random boss. He attacks using melee attacks. He has a custom theme, and a cutscene of him shaking Godzilla's hand is played after he is defeated three times. In the PS4 version, he can be encountered on 3 stages with special conditions. He can also only be encountered the first time as Godzilla. If the player destroys the area to between 50% and 65%, and then destroys the generator, Jet Jaguar will appear. He can appear in: * Stage 1 of Area 1 * Stage 4 of Area 7 * Stage 5 of Area 16 The destruction level applies for all areas. Comics Godzilla Rulers of Earth Jet Jaguar appears in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. Jet Jaguar appeared to help Godzilla to fight against Orga and Gigan. After flying into Orga's mouth and expanding in him, causing Orga to explode. When Godzilla inspected Jet Jaguar, he tried blasting Jet Jaguar with his atomic breath, but managed to make Godzilla to turn his attention on Gigan. While Godzilla was distracted, Jet Jaguar noticed that Orga was trying to regenerate his entire body and so he set out to stop the kaiju, but ultimately failed. After Godzilla defeated Gigan, he becomes enraged and attacked Jet Jaguar by firing his atomic breath at point blank range and smacked the robot with his tail, but was knocked out after Jet Jaguar punched Godzilla's face. Eventually, Jet Jaguar flew to the Cryog ship to help Steven Woods and Chavez, but not before throwing Godzilla out to sea. In Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #12, Jet Jaguar fought Destoroyah, even shrinking to human size, then piloting Kiryu to fire the Absolute Zero Cannon, killing Destoroyah. He then attempted to stop the humans from setting off underwater explosives while Godzilla was in the area, but did not make it in time. Jet Jaguar then disappeared for several years, but reemerged when the Trilopods attacked the Earth. Jet Jaguar traveled to Los Angeles to assist Godzilla in the battle against the creatures and fought against a Trilopod that had taken on Godzilla's characteristics, but was nearly destroyed by it. Thankfully, Jet Jaguar was saved by Zilla, and joined with Godzilla and his allies to defeat the Trilopods. At some point in the battle, Jet Jaguar managed to attack Gigan and defeat the cyborg monster. After Godzilla destroyed Magita, Jet Jaguar observed Godzilla and the other monsters traveling out to sea, following them from a distance. Jet Jaguar was last seen human-sized being repaired in Dr. Ando's office. Triva * "Godzilla and Jet Jaguar: Punch! Punch! Punch!", sung by Masato Shimon, plays at the end of Godzilla vs. Megalon. When the film appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000, Joel and the 'Bots came up with their own comedic translation of the lyrics. * For the German release of Godzilla vs. Megalon, Jet Jaguar was renamed to King Kong. However, there is no connection to the real King Kong beyond his name; contrary to a widespread misconception, he is not said to be a giant ape wearing a robot suit in the dub. * The popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion paid homage to Jet Jaguar in the episode "A Human Work," where a robot named Jet Alone appears. It shares a similar color scheme with Jet Jaguar, and references both his name and the name of his original design, Red Alone. * According to Shunsuke Fujita, the producer of Godzilla on the PlayStation 3 and 4, he did not originally intend to include Jet Jaguar in the game, but walked into his office and saw him on the screen and "couldn't say no." * Jet Jaguar is referenced in GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse, the official prequel novel to GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, through a type of battle armor constructed by the United Earth called "Type-38 Mobile Combat Uniform Jaguar Japan Specification," or "Jaguar J" for short. * Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #7's title was "PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH," a reference to "Godzilla and Jet Jaguar: Punch! Punch! Punch!". When the series was reissued as trade paperbacks, the title changed to "Viva Jet Jaguar". * In the 2011 science fiction novel Ready Player One, Jet Jaguar is one of multiple giant robots available for selection after clearing the Black Tiger-themed second gate of Anorak's quest. He is seen alongside The Iron Giant, Leopardon from Toei's Spiderman, the Shogun Warriors, and Kiryu, who appears later in the book. Appearances FilmsEdit * Godzilla vs. Megalon (First appearance) Television series * Godzilla Island Video games * Battle Soccer: Champion of the Field * Godzilla, King of the Monsters * Godzilla Movie Studio Tour * Godzilla: Trading Battle * Godzilla Generations * Godzilla: Save the Earth * Godzilla: Unleashed (Wii and PS2) * Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash * Godzilla (2014 video game) * Godzilla: Kaiju Collection Books * Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works (As Red Alone) Comics * Godzilla: Rulers of Earth